I used to be Britain's longest-running wrestling blogger. Then I got a proper job.

Sunday, 16 September 2007

Nacho Libre - DVD Review

I like Jack Black. No, that’s an understatement. I love Jack Black. I think he’s a hell of an actor, and not that bad at the old music game as well, and being a wrestling fan, it was a cert that I’d end up buying Nacho Libre the day it was released on DVD.
You see, we wrestling and film fans have been kind of let down when these two genres have been combined over the past few years. Poor efforts such Bodyslam, starring Roddy Piper and that guy who was in The A-Team and Battlestar Galactica, and Ready to Rumble starring the worst World Champion in the history of professional wrestling really let us down. So when news of Nacho Libre came down the pipe, I was optimistic.

Directed by Jared Hess, Nacho Libre is the story of Ignacio, a monastery cook who has spent most of his life dreaming of becoming a luchadore, a star on the Mexican wrestling scene, when he’s not dishing out day old potato chips and something that looks like it came out of my dog to the orphans on a daily basis. Ignacio’s dreams start to become a reality when he finally decides to give wrestling go. Recruiting a peasant and christening himself Nacho, he becomes a whipping boy for the local superstars, surprised at the fact that he’s earning a decent wage, despite being on a losing streak Barry Horrowitz would be proud of, while dreaming of going up against his hero, the mighty Ramses. He also has to lead a double life, keeping his wrestling career secret from almost everyone else at the monastery, while his earnings finally get the orphans some decent grub.

He eventually gets his chance when…..well, I think you can guess how this film turns out. Jack, as always, is excellent in the lead role, and Hector Jimenez, as his sidekick and tag-team partner Esqueleto, is a great foil for his comic talents.

However, even though Nacho Libre was incredibly well made, and I can’t really find anything technically wrong with this film, I just couldn’t get into it. There are some great one liners here, but maybe I’m not the sort of audience this film was aimed at. After all, this was a Nickelodeon co-production. But one thing I must point out is the fact that unlike some other professional wrestling movies, Nacho Libre is very respectful to the business it’s portraying, even though it’s a comedy.

So if you’ve got a few spare hours and you’re a Jack Black fan, then you’ll probably enjoy this outing, and I’m sure your kids will as well, and as with every other DVD release, there’s tons of extras to enjoy as well, including the usual deleted scenes and commentaries.

Nacho Libre is available from all the usual retail and online outlets.